The maternal employment status after the completion of their child's cancer treatment: A cross‐sectional exploratory study

Abstract

Abstract Aim To clarify the details of mothers' employment status after the completion of their child's cancer treatment. Design A cross‐sectional exploratory study. Methods Data are collected from 62 mothers of childhood cancer survivors using self‐report questionnaires. Fisher's exact test was used to determine the statistical significance of factors between the mothers who worked and those who did not work after their child's cancer treatment had been completed. Results Thirty‐two mothers worked after the completion of their child's cancer treatment. There were significant differences in age, education level, employment status at the diagnosis and time elapsed since the diagnosis between the working mothers and non‐working mothers. Twenty‐two non‐working mothers reported that they had some motivation to work, but the most common reason for not working was “To nurse or care for the child with cancer”. Some mothers also stated that they did not work due to anxiety about cancer recurrence.

Keywords

• childhood cancer survivors
• employment status
• maternal employment
• work motivation